Rio and Maybelline
by DragonNutt
Summary: Just when the Xiaolin Dragons think nothing can surprise them, two strangers drop onto the temple doorstep: an impulsive, battle-happy warrior, and her nervous, secretive brother. The monks attempt to solve the mystery of the twins, but if they keep their guard down, a familiar Heylin witch may get the best of them. [Implied RaiKim, contains two OCs borrowed from Chipmunkfanatic.]
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Notes: Chipmunkfanatic gave me permission to play with her RaiKim OC babies, and this short story was the result! Feel free to read and review!_

* * *

Atop the roof of the Xiaolin Temple vault, Wuya smirked down at the four with a bag of stolen Shen Gong Wu in tow. "Now, now, Xiaolin Warriors, it's nothing personal."

Raimundo cracked his knuckles, and Kimiko flexed her shoulders. Honestly, Wuya's arrival at the temple was almost a welcome one; not much had changed since Raimundo's promotion, and the daily routine had started to get downright dull. Train, finish chores, find the Wu, kick Jack's butt, rinse and repeat. At least the Heylin witch was a challenge.

Still, was it too much to ask for something _new_ to happen?

"Prepare for defeat, Wuya!" Omi shouted, pointing dramatically.

While Kimiko and Omi rushed to flank either side of the vault, Raimundo soared up. "Shoku Astro Wind!" He flung a disk of condensed air at Wuya, who ducked the attack and sprang down the stone wall. Clay skidded to a stop in front of the witch. The four braced themselves for battle: same old, same old.

Then, before any of the Wudai Warriors could call upon their elements, a sphere of light erupted in the middle of the courtyard. The monks and villains whirled to face it, and when the orb faded, two red-clad teenagers dropped to their butts in front of them.

After a stunned second, Clay said, "Well, I'll be hogtied." Raimundo hovered in the air to cock his head at the newcomers, and Kimiko and Omi froze in place. Even Wuya paused in the action to raise her eyebrows.

The two, a boy and a girl, wore the robes of pre-apprentice Xiaolin Dragons. With matching dark hair, tan skin, and green eyes, their hands clasped onto a set of metallic golden claws on the girl's wrist, but the boy quickly let go to gawk at their surroundings.

The girl stared down at the claws with lips pursed. "Oops."

After giving the encircling warriors and villain a horrified glance over, the boy whirled to her and cried, "What did you do?"

"It's not my fault!" She pulled the claws off and stood up. "It was only supposed to go back twenty _minutes_, not twenty ye—"

"Master Omi told you the Cheetah Claws can't be controlled. You're lucky we still have our _clothes _on!" The boy stepped away from the girl, wrinkling his nose at her and shuddering as if the very idea of his comrade naked was too horrific for words.

Omi was the first to recover from the sudden intrusion. He jumped out of Wuya's hair and trotted toward the new arrivals. "Pardon me, honorable strangers, but who are you, and why are you wearing the robes of Xiaolin Dragons in training?"

When the two looked up toward the voice, the girl gasped, slapped a hand to her mouth, and pointed at Omi. "He—!"

"Um, hello," said the boy, forcing a polite smile while kicking at his comrade's shin. "We seem to have arrived here on accident—"

"He's so _short_!" the girl squealed, grinning at Omi. "He's even tinier than back home—he's so _cute_!"

The boy cast a wide-eyed glare back at her. "Chill pill, please."

Wuya finally regained the sense to utilize the convenient distraction. She threw Kimiko across the courtyard, and when the other monks spun around to face her, she leaped at the two newcomers. The boy spotted her first and shoved the girl out of the way with a call of alarm, but the witch skidded to a stop in front of them and snatched up the Cheetah Claws.

"This Wu seems to have caused you some trouble," she said with a toothy grin. "Why don't I take it off your hands?"

Both teens' faces paled, but when they jumped forward, she sprang into the air with the Longi Kite and soared over the temple wall, taking the cluster of the other stolen Shen Gong Wu with her.

After a moment with her mouth hanging open, the girl said, "Huh. That… that might be a problem."

"Might be?!" The boy gripped his cropped hair, looking ready to yank it out.

The four original monks bounded down from the rooftops and the obstacle course. Approaching the two strangers, Raimundo nodded his head. "Uh. 'Sup."

"'Sup," said the girl, beaming. The boy groaned.

"Kinda crashed our party there," said Raimundo. "Mind telling us who you are?"

"Oh, right! You wouldn't know us yet, would you? My name is Ka—" The girl's voice cut off when the boy slammed his foot onto hers.

While she gritted her teeth and tried to maintain some degree of composure, the boy wrapped his arm around her shoulders and said with a rather forced smile, "There was a bug on your shoe." Then to the other monks, he said, "My name is, uh, Rio. And this is my twin sister… Maybelline."

"Like the town?" asked Raimundo.

"And the makeup?" asked Kimiko.

Rio bit his lip. "…Yes."

Kimiko, Clay, and Raimundo exchanged unconvinced glances. Omi stepped forward and asked, "I have never heard of the Cheetah Claws Shen Gong Wu. What does it do?"

Rio gritted his teeth, looking torn. "It… uh…"

Maybelline sprang down to crouch in front of Omi with eyes gleaming. "They let you travel through time," she said. "Kind of like the Sands of Time, except—"

"Except dangerous, unpredictable, and with a really weird side effect on the user's clothing." Rio looked down at his robes, shuddered, and glared at his sister. "Which is why we're _not _allowed to use it."

Maybelline flailed her hands at him. "It was an emergency!"

"What kind of emergency?" asked Omi.

Rio rolled his eyes. "She completely fried Mom's computer. Somehow set the thing on fire. No idea how she pulled that off."

Maybelline kept her eyes trained on Omi, almost as if she was purposefully avoiding eye contact with the other monks. "Mom was gonna kill me if she found out—"

"So of course the only logical course of action was to use an extremely unstable Shen Gong Wu to go back in time and prevent herself from doing it." Rio sighed. "For the record, I tried to stop her, but as you can see…"

"So y'all are from the future?" Clay asked, nodding thoughtfully. He glanced back and forth between the two newcomers and the two taller monks next to him.

"Uh—" said Rio.

"Yep!" said Maybelline. "About tw—" She eyed the alarmed look on her brother's face, "Tw…ooo hundred years? Yeah. Two hundred years in the future."

"Give or take a few decades," said Rio.

"But didn't y'all say something about Master Omi?" Clay asked, now unabashedly comparing the physical features of Raimundo and Kimiko with those of Rio and Maybelline.

"Oh." Rio's face paled again. "Uh, well, you see, Master Omi is—uh, super old, but…"

"Of course he is," said Maybelline, nodding. "He jumps all over the time space continuum with the Sands of Time you guys gave him. Remember?" Rio's mouth dropped open in shock, and she sent a smug grin in his direction before turning back to the cowboy. "He told us all about you guys. You're Clay, right? The Xiaolin Dragon of Earth?"

"Mm-hmm," said Clay, finger to his chin.

She nodded at the other two. "You're Raimundo, the Xiaolin Dragon of Wind, and Kimiko, the Xiaolin Dragon of Fire. And you're Omi, of course." She beamed at the smallest warrior. "Don't worry, little dude; you're gonna get taller. Not by much, but—"

"So. Um." Rio slapped his hands to his sides. "I think my sis and I kinda need to have a talk. You know, discuss strategies for getting back home and stuff. So we'll be… over there for a minute." He gestured in the vague direction of the obstacle course before grabbing Maybelline's arm and dragging her out of earshot of the other monks.

Watching them go, Kimiko said, "They're hiding something."

Raimundo crossed his arms. "Yep, no doubt."

"But they are Xiaolin Dragons in training!" said Omi. "We must not spring to conclusions. We should treat them with hospitality and respect until they can return home."

Clay shrugged. "I'm with Omi on this one. Besides, I reckon their secrets ain't malicious."

"What do you mean?" asked Raimundo.

"No one else thinks they look a tad familiar?" Clay raised an eyebrow at Raimundo and Kimiko, who shrugged at him.

"I've never seen them before," said Kimiko.

"Me neither," said Raimundo. "What are you getting at?"

Clay sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nothin'."

Meanwhile, Rio and Maybelline trotted to the monkey bars before he let go of her arm. She scowled. "I don't see the point in lying to them if you're gonna be so bad at it." She put her hands on her hips while a grin crept over her face. "I mean, _Rio_? Really? Why don't you just yell across the field, 'Hey, guess who our papa is'?"

"You know I suck at lying," muttered Rio, hands on his face, "especially to Mom and Papa."

"Then why bother?"

This time it was his turn to flail at her, eyes round. "We_ can't_ let them figure out who we are! We could prevent our own existence!"

"Why would they not want us after figuring out who we are? We're _awesome_. Or… I am, anyway." She gave him a cheeky grin before fist-bumping his shoulder. "Come on, Comi—"

"You can't call me that while we're here."

She gave an annoyed sigh. "How about Captain Buzzkill? Can I call you that?"

"And you can't slip up with Mom and Papa either. You have to call them by their first names."

"Duh. I'm not a moron."

"Don't tell them anything about the future—"

"Fine, dude, geez—" Her hands clenched while she crossed her arms.

"And don't do anything that will remind them of themselves." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Which means no temper tantrums."

"I don't HAVE—" She gritted her teeth and forced her expression into a polite smile, "temper tantrums." She relaxed her stance and tossed her black hair, tied into a high ponytail with loose locks framing her face.

"Either way," said her brother, rubbing his neck and wincing, "they're probably the only people who can help us get the Cheetah Claws back. We're no match for Wuya, not on our own."

Maybelline pouted and mumbled, "I could totally take on Wuya…"

"Not without elemental powers, you can't." Rio started walking back toward the courtyard. "Face it. Even as Shoku and Wudai Warriors, our paren—those guys are _way_ stronger than we are. We can use all the help we can get."

Maybelline glowered at the dirt. Then, kicking over a random pebble, she muttered, "I guess." With a resigned sigh, she trotted after her brother to rejoin the Xiaolin Dragons.


	2. Chapter 2

Fueled by curiosity over the newcomers, Omi insisted on starting a training session to see the newcomers' skills. Maybelline lit up at the suggestion, while Rio's reaction was mixed at best, but Raimundo suggested that they eat some lunch first.

The kitchen was rather cramped, even with just the two extra. The Wudai and Shoku Warriors, none of whom possessed the classiest of table manners, scarfed down their food, but neither of the pre-apprentices paid much attention to theirs. Maybelline stood near the counter, eyes flashing from monk to monk while her lips twitched in a poorly hidden smirk. Rio sat backwards in his chair, drumming his fingers on the backrest and frowning at the table as if it had caused all his problems.

After Raimundo had cleaned his plate, Maybelline asked, "So… what was Wuya doing here? Stealing Wu, right?"

"Yep." Raimundo leaned back in his seat. "Pretty weird that she showed up without Chase, though."

"Chase Young? The immortal lizard dude?" She tilted her head and shrugged. "Oh. No, that makes sense to me."

"It does? Why?" Kimiko paused at her meal to glance up at the other girl. "Does something happen to Chase?"

They heard the distinct clunk of Rio's head hitting the backrest of his chair. The boy glared at his sister, who stammered, "No, no, no. Chase is fine—well, you know, 'fine' isn't a good thing for a villain to be, but—what I MEANT was, it—" She took a deep breath. "Wuya is kinda gonna start flying solo in the future. Teams up with Jack now and then, but. You know."

"Oh." Raimundo raised his eyebrows. With a shrug, he picked up his plate and brought it to the sink. "Good to know."

Maybelline scratched idly at her arm. "It's probably not a good idea for us to tell you future stuff. Messing with the time space continuum and all that."

"Fair enough." After sparing a few seconds to rinse the plate and then drop it into the sink, Raimundo strolled back to his chair, flipped it around, and sat backwards in it. "But that's the future. Why would Wuya come here by herself just to raid a handful of Wu? She didn't even take much."

"Did she take anything odd?" asked Rio, his elbows on the backrest and his fingers folded in front of him. "Like, any Wu you guys haven't used in a while?"

The monks thought for a minute, and then Clay snapped his fingers. "The Sun Chi Lantern. She nabbed that one. We haven't used it in years. Kinda useless in battle."

"What does it do?" asked Rio.

"It allows you to absorb the elemental chi of your nearby comrades." Omi stood on his chair, crossed his arms, and frowned at Clay. "And it is most certainly _not_ useless in battle, as I definitely recall."

Maybelline perked at the Shen Gong Wu's description, but Clay retorted, "That's 'cause you used it before we were even apprentices. You could handle all our chi at once back then. But if you tried to absorb all our powers now, when we're all a mite bit stronger, well… We've already seen what happens when you do that."

Omi flushed a bit and sat down, avoiding the confused stares of the two newcomers. Finally, Maybelline said, "Aaaaanyway, why would Wuya want that Shen Gong Wu? Can she take your elemental chi with it?"

"Not a chance." Raimundo shook his head, arms crossed over the backrest of his own chair. "The Sun Chi Lantern won't work on anyone who resists it." He glanced over at Kimiko, who sat next to him and had just finished her lunch. Before she could get up, he snatched her empty plate and tossed it across the room, and with a clang, it landed in the sink.

Maybelline glanced into the sink to check that the plate hadn't shattered. Eyebrows lifting, she nodded once. "Nice." Then she pursed her lips and returned her attention to the topic at hand. "Then maybe Wuya took it so you can't use it against her?"

"There's nothing to take from her; she doesn't have her powers." Kimiko scooted her chair a little closer to the table and rested her chin on her knuckles. "Which is how we can still use Wu against her in the first place."

"Yeah, that—" Maybelline blinked. "Wait, what do you mean?"

Omi sat up straighter, arms still crossed. "Shen Gong Wu do not work against Wuya when she is at full power."

Both Maybelline and Rio furrowed their eyebrows and turned their attention to the smallest monk. "Really?"

"We tried it before," said Raimundo.

"We?" Omi gave their leader a rather pointed stare.

Raimundo slumped a little in his seat before pointing at his teammates. "Um._ They _tried it before, last time Wuya rose to full power. The Orb of Tornami, the Star Hanabi, the Third Arm Sash… nothing worked."

"Not to mention that she flat-out told us that she was 'so beyond' Wu." Kimiko gave a half-hearted impersonation of Wuya's voice at the quote, and Clay shivered.

Maybelline scratched her head. "But… if they don't work against her, then why did Grand Master Dashi use them to fight her?"

A brief, stunned silence fell over the room. Clay put a finger to his chin. Then Omi said, "I witnessed Wuya's capture 1,500 years ago. I did not see Grand Master Dashi, Master Monk Guan, or Chase Young using any Shen Gong Wu."

"But the ancient scrolls say that Dashi fought Wuya alone, and he used Wu to aid him." Maybelline frowned. "Are the scrolls just… wrong?"

Omi's face fell at the suggestion. Kimiko smirked and said, "I wouldn't be surprised. I know that _Ancient Guide to Females_ book sure is."

"It is?" Omi gawked at her.

Raimundo leaned forward to peer at Maybelline. "Have _you_ guys been able to use Shen Gong Wu against Wuya?"

The girl's shoulders stiffened. "Well… no." She glanced down at the floor. "We've never faced Wuya before. We actually… don't get to battle a lot." She mumbled, "Our dad is kinda protective."

Raimundo shook his head in sympathy and said, "Dude, that sucks."

Clay snorted, and Rio bit onto the knuckle of his own index finger. Kimiko wrinkled her nose. "Is your dad at the Xiaolin temple?"

"Heyyyyy." Rio loudly scraped his chair against the floor as he stood. "Why don't we do something that won't break the space time continuum, like going outside and doing some training, huh?"

* * *

After taking the bait immediately, Omi led the monks out to the training grounds. "You two are beginners, correct? Then perhaps you could test your skills through our obstacle course!"

Clay nodded to the circular track, particularly the line that marked the start and finish. "All you gotta do is fetch the lil toy dog at the end."

Maybelline sprang to the starting line, glancing at the stuffed toy behind her. Meanwhile, her brother stayed near the other monks, out of the way, and called, "Ka— Maybelline, what are you doing? You know the trick already. Just turn around and get the dog."

Raimundo and Kimiko chuckled at Omi's deeply annoyed frown. Clay turned to the pre-apprentice. "Y'all figured out the loophole?"

"One of the first things you—they—we learned back home." Rio cleared his throat. "Simple solutions to complicated problems." He avoided Clay's eye contact.

Maybelline bounced in place and grinned. "Can I borrow the Tangle Web Comb?"

"You don't need Wu to get the dog," said Rio. "Just turn around and pick it up."

Maybelline caught the comb as Raimundo tossed it to her. "But where's the fun in that?" Without another word, she pointed the Tangle Web Comb at the gator pit in front of her and fired. The webbing latched onto the top of the wall on the other side of the pit, sticking fast, and when the girl shifted her weight and tugged the comb back, the webbing retracted. With a whoop, she shot forward and over the pit completely.

The Wudai and Shoku Warriors gasped. Rio rolled his eyes. "Show-off."

"The Tangle Web Comb is a most difficult Wu to master!" said Omi, watching the girl twirl across the obstacle course.

"That's why she picked it," Rio said. "Her favorite is the Sword of Luci—uh, the Sword of the Storm, but that one's easy to use. She wanted to impress you guys, so she picked something harder."

"The Sword's not_ that_ easy," Raimundo muttered, but he was still smiling.

Maybelline landed at the finish line with the dog in hand. "Bit slow, huh? Can I use the Fancy Feet next? Bet I could beat the record with that!" Without waiting, she dug through the chest of Shen Gong Wu, popped on the sandals, and took off, leaving a trail of dust.

"Whoa, hang on." Clay tipped his hat back. "She didn't summon the Wu out loud. How did she-?"

"Yeah." Rio shrugged. "Something about intention or concentration or something. She figured it out a few months ago."

"Most impressive!" Omi watched the girl skid to a stop and set the dog back. "Even I, a skilled Wudai Warrior, have not mastered silent summoning!"

Rio bit his lip while his sister tossed the Fancy Feet back in the chest, grabbed the Shard of Lightning, and vanished in a flash. "You guys have elements. You don't rely on the Wu as much." He pointed at the chest. "Just to warn you, she's probably gonna be borrowing yours every chance she gets while she's here. She's pretty much obsessed with them, always sneaking out to practice."

"I am _not_ obsessed." Maybelline took off the Shroud of Shadows and appeared upside down above Rio's head, wearing the Jetbootsu. "The word you want is 'dedicated.'"

Before Rio could retort or the other monks could comment on her performance on the course, they heard a hacking cough from the temple porch. They turned just as Dojo hobbled out, rubbing his reddened throat. Voice raspy, he called, "Shen Gong Wu rash alert!" Then he spotted the two newcomers. "Hi?"

Maybelline dropped to the ground and threw the Shroud of Shadows back in the chest. "'Sup, Dojo."

Dojo expanded but kept watching the siblings. "Do I know you?"

"We shall explain on the way!" Omi and the other elemental warriors sprang onto the dragon's back, and the little monk turned back to the two. "Do you wish to come with us?"

Maybelline's eyes lit up, and she scrabbled onto Dojo's back. Rio followed with less enthusiasm. With all six on his back, Dojo scooped their Shen Gong Wu from the chest, popped them into his ear, and swirled up into the sky.


	3. Chapter 3

As Dojo descended over snow-capped mountains, Omi opened the Shen Gong Wu scroll. "The Shen Gong Wu to retrieve today is called the Imo Gazer. With just a look, the user can put his opponents into a deep sleep."

"Cool." Raimundo peered down at the mountaintops. "I don't see Jack anywhere, but... Is that Wuya?" He pointed, and sure enough, the Heylin witch prowled across the snow, clutching the same bag of Shen Gong Wu she'd stolen.

"What's that no-good hag up to?" Clay tipped his hat back to stare. "Fetchin' Wu by herself ain't her style. She usually has Jack Spicer or Chase Young with her."

Maybelline took a quick breath and grinned. "If Jack shows up, I call dibs. I bet I could take him one-on-one—"

She paused when her brother grabbed her shoulder. Leaning towards her, he murmured, "Let the pros do their stuff. Wuya's here with the Wu, and you and I gotta focus on getting the Cheetah Claws back."

She rolled her eyes. "Newsflash to Captain Buzzkill: when else are we gonna get a shot to fight a _real_ battle with all four Xiaolin Warriors watching? We can finally show them our stuff!"

"You mean _you_ can show them _your_ stuff." Her brother scowled. "But fine. You go prance around in the spotlight and show off all your mad skills for everyone, and I'll get the Cheetah Claws myself."

Maybelline's shoulders tensed, and she clenched her fists. "I'm not trying to _prance around_, I just want to—"

"Silk Spitter!" Wuya called, pointing the Shen Gong Wu straight up at the dragon.

When the white glob shot out at them, Dojo whirled to duck and skidded across the snow to a stop. The monks leaped from his back, and Kimiko called, "Fighting us without your boyfriend for back-up? Getting pretty bold, aren't you, Wuya?"

"Who? Chase?" Wuya scoffed and tossed her hair. "Lizard-breath declined the invitation to join me today. Such a shame. If he'd known what I had planned for you monks, he wouldn't have been nearly so blasé."

"Six against one, then?" Clay lifted the front of his hat with a thumb. "Hardly a fair fight."

"You're right." Wuya dropped the bag behind her and kicked it aside. "Perhaps I should fight without Shen Gong Wu to balance it out."

When the bag dropped, a glint of gold flashed from inside, and Rio's breath hissed through his nose. He immediately crouched into the snow, eyes on the bag. Meanwhile, Omi leaped into the air. "Prepare for defeat, Wuya! Wudai Neptune Ice!"

The snow atop the mountain rose into the air, casting the group in a haze of white. Then the snow shot toward its target and collided into her with a loud whump, pressing and crunching until it had locked Wuya in a solid block of ice.

The warriors stared, still locked in battle positions, but Clay gave an impressed whistle. When he landed, Omi blinked and dropped his mouth open. "I must admit, I did not expect that to work so swiftly." He turned a cheeky smile to the others. "Once again, I have underestimated my vast talent."

Raimundo rolled his eyes. "You sure—"

A loud crack interrupted him, and the giant ice block shattered. Kimiko yelled for her element, and a wall of fire lifted up between them and Wuya. The flying shards melted at the contact.

When Kimiko lowered the wall, Wuya smirked. "You monks never do learn, do you? Always attacking me with your teeny elements, and they never work."

"Elements?" Maybelline murmured. "I thought it was Wu that didn't—"

The Wudai and Shoku Warriors leaped into battle. Clay kicked into the earth, shooting snow-dusted stone at the witch, but she swatted it all away with a kick. Kimiko dashed past the cowboy and shouted, "Wudai Mars Fire!"

She pointed upward, and a pillar of flames rose into the air. Wuya raised an eyebrow in bemusement. "I'm down here, shortcake."

"Shoku Astro Wind!" Raimundo skidded to a stop at Kimiko's side and lifted his hands. Air swirled around the burning pillar, and the fire fanned out across the sky like a bird spreading its wings. Rio's and Maybelline's jaws dropped. Raimundo and Kimiko swung their arms down in tandem, and the firebird dove at Wuya. The collision shook the snowy earth and cast it in a golden glow.

Raimundo and Kimiko grinned and high-fived, but when the light faded, Wuya still stood, chuckling and tossing her hair. "At least that one_ looked_ impressive."

As the earth stopped quivering, a boulder up the mountainside toppled over, revealing something gleaming in its place: a golden, glowing telescope. "The Imo Gazer!" Omi yelped. He broke into a run, but Wuya rushed and kicked him into the ice. Maybelline darted past them, heading straight for the Shen Gong Wu. She heard her brother calling out after her, but she ignored him and plunged onto the telescope. Her hand snatched it at the same time as Wuya's.

"My, my," the witch said, eyebrow raised, "a new shrimp to fry."

"Wuya, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!" Maybelline's limbs trembled while she spoke, but she dismissed it as excited jitters. "I wager my, um—" She turned to the other warriors, heart hammering. "I need a Wu." Raimundo tossed her his, eyes narrowed in concern, and she caught it in one hand and pointed it at Wuya. "I wager the Sword of the Storm against your Cheetah Claws!"

"Oh, is that what those are called?" Wuya glanced down the mountainside to her sack of Shen Gong Wu, and the golden claws rose from the bag and glided to her. Rio watched them pass with eyes round. With a wicked grin, she caught them and hissed, "Are you sure you're ready for the big leagues, hun?"

Maybelline fought to keep the sword from trembling. What was wrong with her? "The game is—is—uh…" The volume of her voice dropped, and she squeaked, "First to get the Imo Gazer wins."

Wuya snorted. "Imaginative."

With a gulp and a shake of her head, Maybelline shouted, "Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!"

The mountain rose and crumbled under their feet. Rio yelped, and Raimundo caught his arm and held him steady while everything lifted into the air. Snow-covered boulders began to drift around them, leading up to the Imo Gazer glowing high above their heads.

Standing across from Wuya, Maybelline stole a glance at all the others watching her. The three older monks looked nervous, and Rio clutched his hair like he was ready to yank it out, but Omi waved at her and called, "Do not worry, Miss Maybelline! I am certain that your skills shall lead you to an easy victory!"

"Haha, yeah…" Maybelline gulped and brought her gaze back to her opponent.

Wuya grinned wickedly. "Gong Yi Tan Pai."

Maybelline lifted up her Shen Gong Wu. "Sword of the—" Her call cut off when Wuya sprang from her boulder and kicked her in the gut. Maybelline fell back, rolling off the stone and shrieking. Arms flailing, she yelled again, "Sword of the Storm!" The resulting blast knocked her sideways, and she collided into another rock and scrabbled to latch onto it.

Omi squatted down, eyebrows clenching. "I do not understand. Maybelline was far more impressive on the obstacle course. Perhaps she is having an off day?"

"You mean an 'off'—" Raimundo blinked. "Oh wait, that _is_ what you said."

"Of course she's better on the obstacle course; that's the only place we've practiced!" Rio started pacing in a tiny circle. "Obstacle courses are easy! You do the same thing over and over every time, everything moves predictably, and most importantly, there's no_ pressure_!"

Coughing, Maybelline stood on shaking legs. Springing from one foot to another, she muttered, "Shake it off, shake it off, you can do this. You're a pro. Piece of cake." She spun the Wu over her head. "Sword of the Storm!" Swinging the Wu down, she rode the blast of wind straight up, and when she landed, she sprang from rock to rock and raced after Wuya.

"Come on, sis," Rio muttered, chewing at his fingernails.

The Heylin witch was moving too fast; Maybelline couldn't keep up. As Wuya landed on the final boulder between her and the Imo Gazer, the apprentice made one last desperate swing. "Sword of the Storm!" The gust of wind blasted straight for the witch, who turned around and held up one hand. The wind parted on either side of her, and the spinning sword turned rigid in Maybelline's hands. The girl gasped, "How are you-?"

Wuya chuckled. "Don't take it personally. The other monks never learn, either."

"What are you talking about-?"

Instead of answering, Wuya bounded to the last boulder and snatched up the Imo Gazer.

The mountain's pieces dropped down and reassembled. Maybelline squeaked when she fell into the snow. The other monks ran to her, and she sat up to stare at her empty hands. "The… the Sword…"

"You alright there, lil missy?" Clay scooped her up under her armpits and hoisted her to her feet.

"I lost the Sword." Maybelline's eyes were round when she looked up at the Dragon of Wind. "I— She was too fast. I lost the Sword."

Raimundo shook his head and waved a hand dismissively. "'S alright, girl."

"I lost it. It was your favorite, and I _lost_—"

"That's not the problem here!" Rio gritted his teeth so tightly that they could have cracked. He rushed forward and grabbed Maybelline's shoulders. "The real problem is that Wuya still has the Cheetah Claws!"

The girl squeaked, "I messed up."

Rio's grip loosened, and his gaze softened a bit. "Hey. Hey, sis—"

"I'm afraid you're both wrong," Wuya called, and the monks all turned to her. "Your real loss wasn't the Sword of the Storm _or_ the Cheetah Claws." She tossed both Shen Gong Wu into the snow, and as she strutted back to her sack of stolen Wu, she spun the Imo Gazer on one finger. "It was this little doohickey right here." She pointed it at the Xiaolins. "Imo Gazer!"

"Get down!" Raimundo pushed the two apprentices, and when the two landed in the snow, the other four were struck.

A murky green haze lifted around the Wudai and Shoku Warriors. Omi had enough breath to mutter something about "not the squirrels…" before his eyelids drooped and he fell on top of the others, snoring softly.

Rio sat up, pulling his sister with him. "That's not good."

Clay's hat wriggled, and Dojo slithered out of it. Hiding behind the monks to avoid the gaze of the telescope, he made a quick leap to Rio. "Duck behind something!"

Rio scrabbled in the snow and made a belly flop behind a stack of rocks, but then he realized that his sister wasn't with him. Glancing back, he called, "Ka—Maybelline?" He didn't see her anywhere.

Meanwhile, Wuya snatched up her sack and pulled out the Sun Chi Lantern. "Ah, what a day. First I win the Wu without breaking a sweat, and now I get to snatch control of the world right out from under Chase's scaly nose." She licked her lips and held the Wu up high.

"What's she doing?" Rio frowned. "The others said the Sun Chi Lantern won't work on your opponents, not unless—" His breath caught, and the tan drained from his face. He whipped his head toward the unconscious warriors. "Unless they can't resist it."

"Sun Chi Lantern!" Wuya called.

The four sleeping monks squirmed in the snow when a golden haze landed upon them, but they were helpless to stop it from sucking out their elemental chi and pulling it into the lantern.

Wuya's grin stretched across her face, and she started laughing. The sky blackened and crackled. The earth began to rumble. The witch raised her arms, and as the ground cracked below, six of her rock creatures broke through the surface of the mountain. While they stomped to their feet, Wuya snapped her fingers, and a little globe of red fire popped over her palm.

Watching the fire turn a sickly green color, she murmured, "Chase may think he can strip me of my powers over earth and fire, but I can be… _quite_ resourceful. And, ooh!" She glanced up at the flashing lightning and the swirling snow. "Water and wind, too. What a bonus."

She started laughing again. Far down the mountain, more of her rock army began to claw their way to the surface. Wind and snow whipped through the sky, barely controlled and ruthless in its chill. The Wudai and Shoku Warriors trembled but could not awaken. Streams of green fire swirled around the witch, who threw her head back and cackled.

All Rio could do was watch. "This is _not_ good."


	4. Chapter 4

While the mountain shook from the army erupting at its surface, Wuya turned on her heel to smirk at the fallen Xiaolin Warriors. "Let's not make the same mistake as last time, shall we? Crush them." At her command, four rock golems stomped toward the pile of monks, stone fists clenched. Dojo leaped from Rio's shirt and shot forward, but before he could reach the four kids, a giant rock foot intervened and flattened him into the snow.

"Dojo!" Rio grabbed a rock and threw it at the nearest golem, only for it to bounce off its head. When the creature turned to gawk blankly at its attacker, the boy bit his lip. "Oh, great."

Before the golem could make up its puny mind over whether to continue following orders or initiate battle with its new target, the other monsters lifted up the three taller Xiaolin Warriors by the ankles. Rio hollered, but no one responded. The fourth golem turned to stare down at Omi, still on the ground, but just as it lifted its giant fists, nine dots glowed on the monk's head. The fists swung down, and Omi's eyes flashed open.

"Mantis Kick!"

In a swirl of snow, the tiny monk shot up and slammed a foot into his attacker's face. The golem roared and fell back, and Omi sprang from its shoulder to launch himself at the others. "Leopard Strike! Dogs Playing Poker! Spider Doing Hokey Pokey!" One by one, the rock golems dropped back at the Wudai Warrior's assault, and the boy's fellow monks landed back in the snow unharmed.

As the last monster's head tumbled off its body, Omi landed atop a stone kneecap and frowned up at the chaos in the sky. Meanwhile, Rio picked up his jaw out of the snow and said, "Dude! You were out cold!"

Omi muttered idly, "Ah, yes, the temperature has dropped rather suddenly."

"No, I meant 'out cold' like— you were unconscious! How did you wake up so quick?"

"Hmm?" Omi raised an eyebrow at the pre-apprentice before tapping his own forehead, where the dots still glowed. "Tiger instincts. Nothing impressive, at least not compared to everything else about me."

Kimiko groaned, blinked, and slowly sat up. "What just… happened? Where are we?"

Clay lifted a heavy arm to grab his hat and tug it back onto his head. "I don't know, but my legs feel like my Auntie May's cranberry jelly." He blinked slowly, looking ready to nod off again.

Omi trotted to their leader, who still laid facedown and snoring. "Raimundo, rise and gleam! There is great evil afoot!"

Muffled in the snow, Raimundo groaned and muttered, "On a scale of one to fifteen hundred, how many years of darkness are we talking…?"

"Ten thousand!"

"Guhhhh, fine." Raimundo heaved himself to an upright position and stared around at the black sky, scattered golems, and swirling storm clouds. "Oh. Wow, you weren't exaggerating."

Swaying a bit, Dojo hobbled to the Shoku Warrior and tugged at his hair. "This is bad news, kids!"

"But what's going-?"

Raimundo didn't need Dojo to answer his question because as he spoke, Wuya raised her arms, and green fire churned into a giant grinning mask above her. "Sleeping on the job, Xiaolin Warriors? You'll miss the show. But let's try this again." She tilted her head and snapped her fingers. "_Crush _them!"

A dozen more rock golems stomped up the mountainside straight for the four. Clay hobbled onto weak, sleepy feet, raised his palms, and yelled, "Wudai Crater Earth!" When nothing happened, he took a sharp breath and froze, and the others stared at him.

Kimiko threw her hands up and yelled, "Could someone_ please_ tell us what's going on?"

"She took your powers!" Rio called, rushing to their side. "She used the Imo Gazer and the Sun Chi Lantern to take all your elements."

Kimiko blinked at him with her mouth open before wiping at the bags under her eyes. "Oh, is that all? And here I was worried that we might be in trouble."

"What do we do?" asked Omi, already braced for battle and watching the golems stomp past an impatient Wuya and occasionally stumble on the ice as they approached.

Dojo sprang from Raimundo's shoulder to Omi's. "You gotta get the Sun Chi Lantern away from Wuya. You see that?" He pointed a scaly finger at a sickly green aura wrapping around the Sun Chi Lantern in the witch's hand, turning the pale lights murky. "She's corrupting your elements. If you can't get the Shen Gong Wu back in time, your powers will be hers forever!"

"How much time have we got?" asked Raimundo.

"Five—? Ten, maybe—?"

"Days?"

Dojo gulped. "Minutes."

Raimundo's eyes rolled back. "Fantastic." He grabbed the dragon by the tail and tossed him into Rio's arms. "Dojo, get the new kids out of here. Everyone else—" The nearest golem roared and threw a boulder straight at them— "Duck!"

While the four warriors scattered and launched into battle, Dojo sprang into the snow. "No need to tell me twice; hop on, kids!"

Rio dodged a wave of flying debris and jumped behind one of the four fallen rock golems. "My sister—I don't know where she is—"

"Here," a small voice murmured.

Rio spun around. Maybelline huddled next to him, clutching Wuya's bag of Shen Gong Wu and staring up at him. Rio let out a breath of relief. "K—girl, where have you been? You can't just disappear like that—"

"I got the Cheetah Claws." The blades trembled on her hand. Her reddened eyes squinted in the freezing wind. "You were right about everything. I messed up. Let's just go home."

The three heard a boom, and a rock golem's arm flew over their heads. Rio peeked over the rocks, clenching numb fingers. "We can't go home. There might not be a home to go back to! We changed the past too much!"

"You… you didn't change anything." She joined him on the rocks, voice weak. A short distance away, Raimundo spun out of a golem's headlock and kicked its head from its shoulders. While Maybelline watched him and the others on the battlefield, her eyes watered and fingers twitched "This is my fault. I did this. You were right; I'm just… I'm not cut out to be a Xiaolin Dragon. I'm not good enough—"

Raimundo glanced back at them, but they didn't notice. Rio grabbed the back of her shirt and yanked her back down behind the rocks. Eye to eye with her, he said, "Hey. What are you talking about? I _never_ said that."

She sniffled. "You're always g-getting on my case about being… impulsive and stuff."

"That's because you_ are_ impulsive and stuff! You're always doing something stupid, dragging me around getting us in trouble, like—like—well, like _this_!" He gestured wildly in Wuya's direction. "But that doesn't mean you can't be a Xiaolin Dragon! That's all you've wanted to be your entire life! You can't let one screw-up… screw you up." He cleared his throat. "It's like Mom says: just because you make a mistake doesn't mean you can't fix it."

On the other side of the rocks, Raimundo raised an eyebrow, but another stone monster charged at him and interrupted his train of thought. While he sprang away and led it elsewhere, Kaze shook her head and wrapped her arms around her knees. "But I can't fix it. I don't have an element. I'm not an apprentice yet. And now that Wuya's at full power, I can't use Shen Gong Wu, either."

Dojo, who'd been busy pulling Shen Gong Wu out of Wuya's bag and stuffing them back into his ear, frowned at her with the Eye of Dashi in hand. Before the dragon could speak, Rio said, "Look, sis, it's gonna be alright. The others will figure it out; all we gotta do is stay out of the way."

Maybelline slid down to sit in the snow. Eyes blank and resigned, she muttered, "I guess. It's not things can get any—"

The three heard another booming crash and a yelp of alarm. Rio and Maybelline leaned out from behind the rocks in time to watch Wuya raise one arm, palm upward, and the wind lifted Raimundo off the ground. The twins' faces paled.

"You were going to say 'worse,' weren't you?" said Dojo.

Raimundo started to choke and squirm in the air, face screwing into a grimace. Wuya's grin stretched across her face, distorting her features. "Well, well, if it isn't my favorite little backstabber." Her hand closed into a fist, and Raimundo gagged in the air, hands feebly reaching for his throat while his eyes started bulging.

"Raimundo, partner!" hollered Clay.

"Raimundo!" called Omi.

"RAI!" shouted Kimiko.

"PAPA!" yelled Rio.

"EYE OF DASHI!"

A bolt of energy shot across the mountainside, casting the snow in a blinding, reflective light. Wuya's hair whipped as she spun and raised a spike of stone between her and the blast. It shattered at the bolt's collision, and she tossed the debris away with a gust of wind. In the distraction, Raimundo dropped back down to the ground, coughing and panting.

Maybelline stood high on the rocks and pointed the Eye of Dashi at Wuya, who scowled at her smaller opponent. "Did I forget to squish you, little bug? Well." Green flames rose from the witch's palm. "My mistake."

Maybelline's gritted teeth unclenched, and her stance wavered. As Wuya rose her arm to fling the fire, Kimiko lunged onto the witch's arm, snagging fingers in the red hair as she scrabbled for the Sun Chi Lantern. Stumbling back, Wuya grabbed Kimiko's leg and flung her back into the snow.

When the witch summoned the fire again, Raimundo coughed, held out a hand to Maybelline, and yelled, "Throw it!" Stammering, the pre-apprentice tossed the Shen Gong Wu to him. He whirled back around and called, "Eye of Dashi!" A second blast of energy shot across the snow, and the fire vanished in Wuya's attempt to block the lightning with a wall of earth.

Maybelline dropped back down behind the rocks, and Rio bit his lip. "He can't distract her like that for long; the Wu won't work on her—"

"They WHAT?" Dojo sprang onto Rio's head, claws clinging to the boy's dark hair. "When did that happen?"

Rio stammered and pointed into the battlefield, where the other monks were still plowing through the army of rock monsters to reach the one-on-one fight between Raimundo and Wuya. "They—that—that's what Master Omi said! The scrolls about Dashi are wrong—"

Dojo put his fists on his tiny hips. "I beg your pardon! I helped _write_ those scrolls! They are 100 percent _accurate_, thank you very much."

Raimundo ducked an oncoming wall of ice and fired another bolt. Wuya shot a jet of green flames, and the two energy blasts collided. Maybelline gasped, and Rio shook his head. "But Shen Gong Wu have never worked on her—"

"Are you kidding?" Dojo smacked his own forehead. "Of course they work on her! How would the Ying Yoyo have turned her good when she fought Kimiko for the Moby Morpher? How else could the Reversing Mirror and the Serpent's Tail turn her solid, or the Sun Chi Lantern give her powers? Why do you think Dashi MADE the Shen Gong Wu if they didn't work on the ONE person he used them to fight?"

"But the scrolls said Dashi fought her alone, and Master Omi said he watched the battle against Wuya—"

"He did! We both di…" Dojo faltered and clutched at his head. "Wait. I. Ow. I'm… remembering two different things here. The battle happened twice. Two…"

The Wudai Warriors punched their way through the last rock monsters and rushed at Wuya. With a sweep of one foot, the witch cast out an expanding whirlwind of snow and ice to slow them down. Maybelline watched the battle with squinting, unblinking eyes, but Rio focused on the little dragon on his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Dashi. Uh. He locked her in a puzzle box. Master Monk Guan, Chase, and Omi were all there, surrounding her. 'Time to send certain evil packing…'" While Dojo spoke, the Wudai Warriors charged at the witch in a flurry of martial arts, but she hurled every one of them back with a blast of fire.

Dojo gritted his teeth. "Wait. Wait, no. That didn't happen. She_ beat_ Guan and Chase— Omi wasn't there—"

Omi panted where he lay. Bruised and battered from their fights with the rock monster army, Kimiko and Clay struggled to stand but ended up sagging back into the snow. Wuya tapped her foot, summoning another pillar of earth to block another energy blast from Raimundo.

"Dashi fought her alone. He had his Shen Gong Wu."

The twins barely heard Dojo over the sound of two more jets of green fire and white light striking over the frozen landscape, this time locking down into continuous blasts. Wuya and Raimundo braced their legs, both with hands out in front of them, each trying to overpower the other. The Sun Chi Lantern sat in the snow, still barely touching Wuya's bare foot.

Dojo buried his face in Rio's hair. "Uuuugh, my head hurts. I'm remembering two different things here…"

Maybelline pointed at the Sun Chi Lantern, where the lights inside flickered like dying candle flames in smoke. "Guys, I really don't know what either of you are talking about, but we're running out of time here."

Dojo peeled his face off Rio's head. "Gah. What I—What I'm trying to say is… the Wu work. They really do. But the last time Wuya came to full power, the kids were just apprentices. You need a Shen Gong Wu _expert_ to take her down."

"An… expert?" Rio turned and gave his sister a steady look. "Gee, I wonder where we'll find one of those."

Maybelline stared blankly back at him for a ridiculously long time. Then she took a quick breath, and her eyes grew round. "Wait. Me?"

"I don't know anyone as obsessed with the Wu as you, sis."

"I'm not _obsessed_, I—" Maybelline hunched her shoulders and tugged at a lock of hair near her ear. "I don't… I don't know." She glanced back up at the battle, where the green fire inched its way closer, slowly overpowering the Eye of Dashi. Raimundo skidded back an inch or two. Maybelline closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and straightened her back. "Dojo. You got a bunch of Wu in your ears, right?"

Dojo tilted his head. As a handful of Shen Gong Wu dropped out of his ear, he raised his eyebrows. "Sure do."

A slow grin spread across Maybelline's face. "Please tell me one of them is the Emperor Scorpion."


	5. Chapter 5

"Wait, hang on, kid, that's a bad idea." Dojo slithered back, already clamping a hand over his ear as if expecting Maybelline to reach inside and take the Wu herself. "The Emperor Scorpion? Let's not get ahead of ourselves—"

"What does it do?" asked Rio, his eyes now on the Sun Chi Lantern.

His sister kneeled in front of Dojo and flicked the side of his head. More Wu fell out of the dragon's ear and expanded to full size in the snow. He scowled at her, but she ignored him and started digging through the scattered pile. Turning back to Rio, Dojo waved a hand dismissively. "It lets you control all other Shen Gong Wu, but trust me, it's WAY more complicated than—"

"Aha!" Maybelline plucked a metallic scorpion out of the snow, slapped it onto her wrist, and pointed it at the Sun Chi Lantern across the battlefield. "EMPEROR SCORPION!"

Absolutely nothing happened. Wuya glanced at them when she heard the shout, but the Sun Chi Lantern did not budge. Snickering, the witch refocused on Raimundo, who started to sweat at the oncoming stream of green fire.

Nostrils flaring, Rio gawked at his sister. "_That _was your plan?"

"No, it was not my _plan_—" Maybelline dropped back into the snow, digging around amongst the Shen Gong Wu again. "It was just worth a shot— Might as well try it—"

"Like I was saying," Dojo said, arms crossed over his tiny chest, "the Emperor Scorpion lets you control Shen Gong Wu, but only when they're _sentient_. You know, thinking for themselves? It won't do anything against a normal Wu minding its own business. That's why we only used it once: against the Fearsome Four. So unless you're planning to unleash Mala Mala Jong and throw it into this mess, I'd suggest you think of something else!"

While the three bickered, more rock golems started to sprout from the mountainside and stomp toward Omi, Kimiko, and Clay, who still lay panting and helpless in the cold. Raimundo's focus started to waver when he saw the monsters approaching his friends, and Wuya took advantage of the distraction and sent a surge of heat his way. The Eye of Dashi's blast weakened and disintegrated. Raimundo fell back, smacking his head into the rocks beneath him.

Rio gasped and whirled to shout at his sister, "What's the plan?!"

Maybelline snatched something black out of the snow, tucked it under her armpit, and threw the Star Hanabi at her brother. While he flailed his hands to catch it, she yelped, "Distract Wuya! I gotta take out the golems!"

"How are you gonna-?"

"MOVE, Comi!" Clutching the Emperor Scorpion and the odd black object, she took off toward the other three Xiaolin Warriors.

Wuya lifted up the Sun Chi Lantern, where the Xiaolin elements barely flickered. She strolled toward Raimundo, who coughed and tried to roll onto his stomach. Before he could find the strength to stand, a stone hand broke out of the earth and latched onto his ankle. Clutching at his scalded robes, he gritted his teeth at Wuya, who said with a smile, "Maybe burning a traitor alive would be more appropriate than crushing?"

"Star Hanabi!" Rio shouted.

A thin lightning bolt shot across the battlefield… and missed. It passed behind Wuya and smacked into a rock golem, who barely stumbled. The witch blinked and looked up at the boy. "Another little bug? My, you are a quiet one; I didn't even notice you there."

Rio thought he heard a distant, unfamiliar roar further down the mountain, but he ignored it in favor of the closer threat. Limbs shaking, he fired the Star Hanabi again, but Wuya blocked the attack with a rising stone pillar. When she summoned a green fireball on her palm, Dojo sprang out of the way, and Rio jumped into the mess of Shen Gong Wu to grab the nearest one. "Shroud of Shadows!" He tossed it over his body and disappeared.

Wuya's eyebrows lifted. "Leaving so soon?" She twirled a finger, and the snow started to swirl from the ground. Raimundo wrapped his arms over his head as the bitter cold spun like a hurricane in a roar of sound. Shen Gong Wu scattered everywhere. Rio tumbled and rolled, and the Shroud of Shadows blew away. Something bright blue flashed in the corner of his vision, but he was spinning too fast to figure out what it was. By the time the icy storm lifted, Rio lay on his back, dizzy and bruised.

Blinking up at the cloudy sky, Rio heard giant stone feet stomping their way up the mountainside toward him and Wuya. The witch herself did not spare the sources a glance as she walked forward and leaned over him, her red hair messy and tangled from the chaotic wind. "You look just like my little backstabber. A cousin, perhaps?" When Rio clamped his chattering teeth together and didn't answer, she rolled her eyes and lifted up the green fireball again. "Guess it doesn't matter."

"Wuya!" Raimundo shouted, clawing at the stone hand gripping his leg and struggling. Eyes wide and desperate, he threw a rock in her direction, but it missed. "Leave him alone! Your battle is with me!"

"Oho, so you _are_ attached to this runt?" She turned back to Raimundo long enough to give him a wicked grin. "Well then, won't it be fun to watch him fry?"

The thudding footsteps grew louder as the rock creatures came closer. Raimundo yelled, "No, don't! He has nothing to do with this— Fry me instead—!" Then the stone golems stomped into view, and the terror in his eyes faded into confusion.

"Wait your turn," Wuya said, peering down at Rio, whose wide eyes flashed from the fireball in one of her hands to the Sun Chi Lantern in the other. The four elements started to fade within the consuming darkness, but the Wu was still out of Rio's reach. The rock golems formed a tight circle around the two and leaned over them. Rio looked up at them, blinked, and dropped his mouth open.

"You all are supposed to be smearing the monks into the mountainside," Wuya snarled. Snapping her gaze up, she said, "What do you think you're—?" The condescension in her tone fell with a gasp. The golems had turned blue.

Sapphire blue.

A serpentine shadow passed over Wuya, whose eye twitched a bit as she slowly turned around. Leaning high above with its neck in an arch, the Sapphire Dragon growled down at her, teeth bared and tail lashing. Atop its neck sat Maybelline, who smiled and tapped at the glowing Emperor Scorpion on her wrist.

"Now, Sapphire, I know we just met and all." She patted the Sapphire Dragon's head fondly. It snorted in response. "But could you do me a big favor?" With a gleeful grin, she pointed at Wuya. "Crush her."

The Sapphire Dragon gave a quick exhale, and the little green fireball in Wuya's hand blew out. The witch stumbled backwards, tripping over Rio and dropping the Sun Chi Lantern. The Sapphire Dragon roared, and the rock golems stomped after their old master, who scrabbled backwards and summoned a wall of fire to block them. The blue dragon slithered around Rio, ignoring him completely, and the boy grabbed onto the Shen Gong Wu that in a moment of panic, Wuya had finally relinquished. "Sun Chi Lantern!"

The darkness within the lantern disintegrated in the four surging blasts of light. The elements soared into the sky and curved back down to reunite with their chosen monks, who gasped and stumbled to their feet from the surge of renewed strength. The storm subsided as the blackened clouds paled and calmed. The rock golems crumbled, and Wuya's fire shield sizzled and faded.

"No! No, you—" The witch's shout of defiance weakened into a sputter as the Sapphire Dragon lowered its head to meet her eye level.

"I figured you out, Wuya." Maybelline wore a gleeful smile. "You tried to make us think that you're immune to Shen Gong Wu, but you're not. You never were."

"Of course I am!" Wuya spat, muscles absolutely rigid in face of the Sapphire Dragon. "I'm beyond Shen Gong Wu! Your little pet doesn't scare me—" The blue dragon hissed at the word "pet," and the witch gulped.

Maybelline said, "You're beyond _some_ Shen Gong Wu. The Sword of the Storm makes _wind_. The Orb of Tornami makes _water_. The Star Hanabi makes _fire_. Those are the Wu that don't work on you, but it's not because they're Wu; it's because they're tied to elements. You're immune to Xiaolin Dragon _elements_, which is why Grand Master Dashi invented Shen Gong Wu to fight you in the first place!"

Behind the Sapphire Dragon, the Wudai and Shoku Warriors had braced themselves for another round with their elements at the ready, but at Maybelline's words, they froze and looked at each other. Wuya shook her head and matched the Sapphire Dragon's glare. "Even if any of that were true, why would it make any difference to a puny bug like you?"

"Because I don't have an element." Maybelline leaned forward and grabbed onto the Sapphire Dragon's horns. "But when it comes to Shen Gong Wu, I'm not just good enough. I'm the best there is." She lifted and turned her wrist to show the Emperor Scorpion. "Which is how I found out what this 'puny bug' can do! Sapphire?" She tapped the blue dragon's head and then pointed at their target. "Get her!"

The dragon roared and released a blast of blue energy. Wuya yelped and scrambled out of the way, but without any powers, she had no way to fight back. The blue dragon coiled its neck and lashed out with its fangs. In her efforts to duck, the witch stumbled over a forgotten Shen Gong Wu half-buried in the snow. "Shroud of Shadows!" Tossing the shroud over herself, she disappeared. The Sapphire Dragon swung its tail across the space where she vanished, but she was long gone.

"Leaving so soon?" Rio called with a grin. Maybelline raised her fists and whooped in triumph. Before her brother could set down the Sun Chi Lantern, Raimundo hobbled to him, grabbed him into a hug, and lifted him into the air.

"You did it, little dudes! You sent her packing!"

The Sapphire Dragon lifted its head and roared. The Wudai Warriors limped to Raimundo, who kept grinning when he set Rio back down. Kimiko frowned at the scattered mess of stones and melted snow. Shaking her head, she said, "We were really off our A-game, huh?"

Omi bowed to the girl riding the blue dragon. "Thanks to the valiant effort and quick thinking of our pre-apprentice friends, victory was ours!"

Maybelline beamed and bounced in place, and her sapphire steed grumbled underneath her. Rio shook his head and said, "You guys were gonna take her down eventually. My sister and I didn't grow up in ten thousand years of darkness. That means someone defeated Wuya in the original timeline, too."

His sister scraped the crusty snow off her robes and flung a tiny snowball at him. "Captain Buzzkill, shh, stop ruining my moment."

"Could be a stable time loop," Raimundo said, finger on his chin, "which means the future is safe because you came back to save it."

Maybelline let out a delighted gasp, the Sapphire Dragon grunted, and Rio shrugged. "Dude, I hope so, because otherwise we've created an alternate timeline, which means things will be way different when we go home."

Clay tipped his hat back. "You sure? Y'all were only here for one day."

Rio shook his head again. "Yeah, but the fact that we intervened at all meant that we changed how the battle ended. Butterfly Effect, you know? Even if we hadn't done much, we still—wait." He froze, hands clenching on his hips, and his eyes grew round. "Wait, hold on! THAT'S IT!"

The others jumped, startled at the outcry, and Rio plucked Dojo off the ground. "That's why the scrolls are different from what Master Omi saw, and why you remember two different battles! I can't believe I couldn't figure it out earlier- When you went back in time with Omi, your interference changed the original battle's outcome!"

Dojo blinked slowly. "What? Kinda changing topic on me here—"

"Listen, listen! The scrolls are right, but so is Master Omi! The scrolls say what happened in _this_ universe, but Master Omi saw what happened in the _other _universe, the one where Chase Young stayed on the side of good! You remember both because you were _there_ both times!"

The other monks stared. Maybelline pursed her lips, peering down at them from the Sapphire Dragon's back. Dojo tilted his head. "Okay?"

Rio frowned at the others' bewilderment. "What? It makes perfect sense! Master Omi went back in time and fought Wuya in the other universe, and his participation changed the outcome! Butterfly Effect! That makes sense, doesn't it?" He turned a wild gaze to Raimundo, the only monk in the group who seemed to be following his ramblings with any sort of comprehension. "Doesn't it, Papa— uh, Raimundo? That—" His face paled a bit, and his epiphany dropped like a lead weight. "Raimundo. That's what I meant to—I don't know why I said—"

"I do," Raimundo said quietly. "And yeah, that makes sense."

"Does it?" Kimiko asked, hands on her hips. "Because you might need to say all that again a little slower."

Squirming free from Rio's grip, Dojo sprang onto Omi's shoulder and coiled under his shirt. Peeking out and pointing up at the Sapphire Dragon, who now searched the snow for Wuya's footprints, he asked, "More importantly, kids, are we sure that thing is under our control?"

Maybelline sat up proudly. "Of course it—hey!" She kicked into the Sapphire Dragon's neck when it whirled its head around and snarled at them. "No, Sapphire, no zombifying my friends!" The Emperor Scorpion still glowed on her wrist as she slid down the other Wu's back and landed in the snow. She walked around to face the dragon up close. "I know you've got a grudge against Dojo, but turning people into blue zombie statues is not very nice."

She waggled an index finger at the dragon, who responded with an intensely annoyed scowl. Maybelline pouted and patted the creature's nose. "Poor little lizard, covered in all that dirty soot and shoved in a drawer for years. I'd be pretty angry and lonely, too; no wonder you blast people. You just wanna come out and get some exercise, don't you? Don't you, big guy?" Her voice rose in pitch as she cooed at the giant dragon and petted its nose. Her brother slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Great," Raimundo said in a low mutter. "My future daughter is bonding with a sociopathic Shen Gong Wu." He lifted his eyes to the sky. "Where did I go wrong?"

Rio, the only person who heard Raimundo's mumble, pulled his lips back in a nervous smile while his shoulders went rigid with alarm. "Du-daughter? W-what? Haha, she's not your daughter! What gave y-you that idea?"

Raimundo crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Dude. Your name is Rio, and you've called me 'Papa' twice since you got here. You thought I couldn't figure it out?"

Rio paled a bit. Omi, whose own thoughts distracted him from the nearby conversation, turned to Dojo. "I shall have to meditate on Rio's… fervent discovery, but did you already know about Wuya's immunity to Xiaolin elements?"

Dojo blinked. "Didn't you?"

Kimiko's mouth dropped open. "Of course not! You never told us!"

"I thought you knew already; it was obvious!"

"Are you kidding me?"

Almost instantly, the three Wudai Warriors launched into a tirade at the green dragon for neglecting to inform them about the "obvious" tidbit of information. When Raimundo turned his attention to the others, Rio took a few awkward steps backward. "H-hey, sis? Gotta say goodbye to your buddy, there. We kinda need to head out. Right now, immediately. ASAP."

"No, no, no!" Maybelline pulled the blue dragon's snout into a hug. Judging by the creature's exasperated expression, the affection was not reciprocated. Pouting at Rio, she said, "But we just saved the day! Can't we all go back to the temple and hang out a little longer?"

Trotting to their prior hiding place and grabbing the Cheetah Claws out of the partly melted snow, Rio said, "We've already changed way too much; there's no telling what the future will look like. We gotta clear out before we do any more damage."

A voice said behind him, "I dunno, dude, it'd be pretty rude to take off without saying goodbye." Rio spun around again, and Raimundo smirked at him. The Wudai Warriors still bickered with Dojo a good distance away; the three were alone. "I hope I didn't raise you two without any manners."

Maybelline's eyebrows shot up at her brother. "You told him?"

Rio flailed his hands. "I didn't tell him anything!"

"I thought we were keeping the parent thing a secret!"

"We were—No! There is no parent thing! No one is anyone's parents!"

"Did your mom seriously name you 'Maybelline'?" Raimundo asked, letting his thumbs rest in his pockets while he furrowed his eyebrows. "Because 'Rio,' that's cool. Best city there is. But 'Maybelline'? I'm gonna need a while to come to terms with that."

After a moment of stiff silence, Maybelline gave a defeated sigh and turned to the Sapphire Dragon. "Take a nap for a while; I'll see you in a few years, 'kay?" Looking quite relieved to be temporarily freed from its new friend, the Sapphire Dragon snorted, coiled, and shrank back down to its original state to land on Maybelline's palm. She pulled off the Emperor Scorpion and brought the two Shen Gong Wu to the Shoku Warrior. Dropping them both in his hands, she finally said, "That's not my real name."

Next to her, Rio groaned and rested his face in his palms. Raimundo did a poor job concealing the relief on his face. "Really?" Clearing his throat, he asked, "So, what are your real names?"

She pointed at her brother. "You'll figure his out in a decade or two, and Mom will tell you mine."

"Uh, yeah. That's the other thing." Raimundo stuffed the two Wu in his pockets and shrugged. Scuffing one foot under him for a moment, he asked, "At the risk of destroying the time space continuum, who's your mom?"

The twins' mouths fell open before they turned to look at each other. Incredulous, Rio turned back to Raimundo and asked, "You don't know? You haven't figured it out—?"

This time, it was his sister's turn to kick him. While Rio winced and lifted his shin, Raimundo gestured to them and said, "I mean, the only other person you look like is Kimiko, but…"

Maybelline tilted her head, for once keeping her face expressionless. "But…?"

Raimundo shrugged again and sheepishly looked away. "She's already turned me down. A couple times, actually. So it's probably someone else, right?"

He did not turn back in time to see the twins exchange glances again. While Rio glared at his sister warningly, she grinned and said, "Well, that's the thing. Our mom asked _you_ out."

"Really? Huh." With a half-smile, Raimundo said, "I guess I'm gonna like her, then."

"You do. A lot. It's really gross."

Raimundo smile expanded. Behind him, the bickering died down, and the Wudai Warriors trotted over to join them. Omi eyed the Cheetah Claws on Rio's wrist, and his voice turned crestfallen. "Are you two leaving already? But you have not yet met Master Fung, or taught me how to summon Shen Gong Wu silently, or shown us all the tricks to the Emperor Scorpion—"

"Sorry, little dude," said Rio, resting an elbow on his sister's shoulder. "Gotta keep the space time continuum from imploding and all that."

Kimiko straightened her back and rested a hand on one hip. "So no spoilers about the future, huh?"

"No spoilers. All secret. No one can know._ Right_, Raimundo?" He gave his future father a surprisingly piercing stare.

Raimundo nodded solemnly, though his smile hadn't faded completely. "All secret."

Rio turned his focus to the Cheetah Claws. "So. Do I just need to focus really hard on our present day, or…?"

"Pretty sure Master Omi said it takes round trips," said Maybelline. "So it should take us right back, give or take a few minutes."

"Well," Kimiko said with a smile, "it was pretty cool to meet you both. Thanks for saving our butts and everything."

Maybelline beamed. "No problem! I'll gladly save all your butts anytime!" Rio rolled his eyes.

"You said that you have met me before?" asked Omi. "If so, then I look forward to meeting you again!"

Clay nodded in agreement. "Y'all try not to give your parents a rough time, ya hear?"

Rio snapped his head up, immediately suspicious, and Raimundo raised his eyebrows at the cowboy. Maybelline ran a hand through her hair and decided to change the subject. "You know what I really wanna know?"

Rio turned his apprehensive gaze toward his sister. "What?"

Expression contemplative, she pursed her lips. "If we put the Sapphire Dragon in a fight against Mala Mala Jong, who would win?"

"I have no idea," he answered, voice deadpan, "and we aren't gonna find out when we go home. Cheetah Claws!" He lifted up the Shen Gong Wu, and it started to sparkle.

Maybelline smirked. "Well, obviously, _you_ aren't—"

"Kaze, do _not_—"

The two launched into an argument just as the Cheetah Claws flared, casting them both in a glowing orb. The Wudai and Shoku Warriors raised their arms to block the light out of their eyes, and the twins vanished.

* * *

When the light faded, the two dropped to the floor. They both had to blink a few times before they could see properly. Their parents' room was just how they'd left it. The Eye of Dashi still lay on the floor near the desk, and the computer's hard drive was still charred black and emitting faint smoke.

"Huh," the brother said. "Papa was right. Stable time loop."

"Kazeko. Comilei."

The twins' backs stiffened, and they sat up and spun their heads around. Wearing the robes of a Grand Master Dragon, Kimiko sat in the desk chair with her legs crossed and her chin resting on one hand. Behind her and in matching robes, Raimundo leaned one elbow on the chair's backrest.

Kaze rubbed her neck. "Mom. Papa."

"Would either of you happen to know who set my computer on fire?" Kimiko asked with a smile, though her eyes were already trained on the culprit.

To Comi's credit, he didn't immediately point to his sister, but the instinctive shift in his gaze still gave her away. Kaze's lips pressed into a thin line while she sheepishly shrugged at her parents. "Well… I was playing Goo Zombies Go-Kart, and I kept losing, sooooo I may or may not have put the Eye of Dashi in the CD-rom to try and send it into the game…"

"Because that's definitely how technology works," finished Comi with a solemn nod.

Raimundo held up four fingers. "So, to sum up: you used the Eye of Dashi, which you're not supposed to do without permission; you used the Cheetah Claws, which you're not supposed to do _at all_; you fought Wuya on your own, which you're _definitely_ not allowed to do at all—"

Kaze's eyebrows lifted. "You remember that?"

"Of course we do; we were _there_." Kimiko leaned back in the chair and glanced up at Raimundo. "It just took me a lot longer than your father to figure out who you were. Honestly, 'Rio'? Terrible. I'd never name my child that. At least 'Maybelline' sounds pretty."

Raimundo defiantly shook his head before he continued, index finger still raised. "And after you did all that stuff we told you not to do… you kicked Wuya's butt and saved all of ours. So you two have put us in a bit of a pickle."

"To ground you or not to ground you," Kimiko said, holding her palms upward at her sides like she was holding invisible weights. "That's the question."

Kaze shrank down a little where she sat. Comi raised his own hand. "For the record, I didn't do any of those first three things, at least not willingly." When Kaze glowered at him for throwing her under the bus, he added, "But also, since we created a stable time loop by going back in the first place, wasn't the fate of the universe hinged on Kaze doing all that anyway? Even though you told her not to, she _had_ to because she already _did_. Right?"

Kaze narrowed her eyes at her brother, unsure whether he was trying to help her or not. Raimundo bit into his knuckle to keep from chuckling. He leaned over the chair to peer down at Kimiko. "What do you think? Compelling argument?"

Kimiko crossed her arms. "I dunno, Rai, but I know you're biased since you really wanna know if Mala Mala Jong can beat the Sapphire Dragon—"

"Wait, really?" Kaze sat up a little straighter. "You remember that, too?"

Grinning, Raimundo pulled the Heart of Jong out of one pocket and the soot-covered Sapphire Dragon from the other. "If you think I'm gonna let you set the Sapphire Dragon loose in the temple to fight a Cosmic Clash showdown against Mala Mala Jong without_ me_, then you gotta think again, young lady!"

Kimiko showed where Comi had inherited his annoyed eye roll, and Kaze sprang to her feet. "Sapphire Dragon wins, I'm calling it!"

"No way, girl, Mala Mala's packing way more ammo—"

"Exactly! He's slower! Sapphire's gonna run laps around him—"

"Raimundo," Kimiko said, her voice a warning.

Raimundo squatted next to her chair and planted a kiss on her cheek. "We can ground her after this, I promise, okay?" Before Kimiko could rebut, he tossed the Sapphire Dragon to his daughter, and the two bolted out the door and down the hallway, still placing bets on their chosen Wu.

Kimiko pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Master Omi's gonna kill them for this. Maybe Uncle Clay will catch them first." She glanced down at Comi, who twiddled his thumbs where he sat. Raising an eyebrow, she said, "Let me guess. You wanna watch, don't you?"

Comi bit his lip. "Maybe."

"Hmm. Good." Kimiko stood from her chair and smirked. "Didn't want to be the only one." She ruffled his hair before she pulled him up to his feet, and they were both laughing by the time they took off after Kaze and Raimundo.

* * *

_Author's Notes:_

_Phew! That took way longer to finish than I expected. I probably could have split this chapter into two, but I figured the readers were due for an ending! In hindsight, I put way too many plot twists into this tiny fic, but hopefully it turned out alright. Thanks again to Chipmunkfanatic for letting me play with her OC babies, especially since I used this fic as a dumping ground for a bucketload of my headcanons, including:_

_1\. __The Emperor Scorpion works on sentient Wu, not all Wu  
_

_2\. __Wuya is invulnerable to elements and NOT Shen Gong Wu, like she claims_

_3\. __The scrolls in the series' pilot tell a different story than the Time After Time series finale because of the Butterfly Effect_

_Hope you all enjoyed!_


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